The Art Institute of Chicago
Museum Studies
Volume 34, no. 2 (Fall 2008)
Edited by Gregory Nosan
This splendid issue of Museum Studies explores the history and collections of the Art Institute’s libraries, an integral component of the museum’s education and scholarly activities from its inception in 1879. Beginning with an overview of the libraries’ history by their director, Jack Perry Brown, the publication includes over thirty short essays that explore outstanding printed books and journals in the holdings of the Ryerson Library; notable architectural materials in the Burnham Library; and other rare and interesting documents and objects in the museum’s institutional archives. The selection not only illustrates the range and depth of the libraries’ collections but also demonstrates the kinds of research they make possible. Featuring objects ranging from a fifteenth-century copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle to nineteenth-century lantern slides, from Daniel Burnham’s manuscript drafts of his monumental Plan of Chicago to contemporary artists’ books, this beautifully illustrated issue captures the great—and often surprising—riches of one of the nation’s foremost research facilities for art and architecture.
Awarded: Second Place American Association of Museums Publications Design Competition
Articles in this publication:
Jack Perry Brown, “The Book in the City Beautiful: Scholarly Collections at the Art Institute of Chicago”
96 pages, 8 3/8 x 10 1/4 in.
ISBN-13: 9780865592278
ISBN-10: 0865592276
